RANI NAKAZAWA,About Barefoot Gen BAREFOOT GEN (Hadashi no Gen in the original Japanese) is an autobiographical story. Author Keiji Nakazawa was seven years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on his city. “Gen” (pronounced with a hard g) is a Japanese name meaning “roots” or “source”, as the author explains: I named my main character Gen in the hope that he would become a root or source of strength for a new generation of mankind—one that can tread the charred soil of Hiroshima barefoot, feel the earth beneath its feet, and have the strength to say “no” to nuclear weapons . .. | myself would like to live with Gen’'s strength—that is my ideal, and | will continue pursuing it through my work. Hadashi no Gen was first serialized in 1972-3 in Shukan Shonen Jampu, the largest weekly comic magazine in Japan, with a circulation of over two million, It is a graphic and moving account of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath, and it drew wide acclaim not only from young readers but from parents, teachers and critics as well, Barefoot Gen has been made into a full-length, animated feature film, which will eventually be released in North America. Gen's story is of people dealing with inhuman situations, both in the last days of World War II and after a nuclear attack (covered in subsequent volumes), We hope Barefoot Gen will serve as one more reminder of the suffering war brings to innocent people, and as a unique documentation of an especially horrible source of suffering, the atomic bomb, Though this Japanese comic book differs from English language comics in many ways, we believe that Barefoot Gen's honest portrayal of emotions and experiences speaks to children and adults everywhere.What is Project Genes PROJECT GEN was formed in 1976 by a group of young people, both Japanese and non-Japanese, living in Tokyo. We shared a desire to translate Mr. Nakazawa’s work into other languages so that people outside Japan might hear Gen’s message. An all-volunteer group subsisting on donations, we have managed thus far to have at least one volume of the Barefoot Gen series translated into French, German, Esperanto, Indonesian, Norwegian and Swedish. With the help of our many friends and readers, we hope to keep up the work of conveying Gen’s message to the world—a message of human triumph in the face of unprecedented destruction and an urgent warning for our times as the threat of nuclear war increases.